Leland to honor late Jim Henson

LELAND — A bridge in the town of Leland will be renamed “The Rainbow Connection” in honor of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson.

Ashley Zepponi, project director of the Jim Henson Boyhood 20th Anniversary Celebration, tells the Delta Democrat Times that the Jim Henson Family and Muppets Studio agreed to the dedication, which is scheduled for Sept. 24.

A local arts festival will celebrate what would have been Henson’s 75th birthday and the 20th anniversary of The Jim Henson Boyhood Exhibit.

“The Rainbow Connection” was a song performed by the Muppet characters in the 1979 film “The Muppet Movie.”

Henson, a Leland native, died in 1990. His characters that have enchanted and educated several generations of children through programs like Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Between the Lions.